COMMUNITY NEWS: SOUTHEAST

BELL GARDENS : City Gives OK to Street Food Vendors

Street vendors who sell corn, Mexican pastries or other foods from pushcarts have been given the go-ahead to do business in the city.

The vendors had been outlawed in the city for years, but the City Council majority agreed with several speakers who argued that the vendors have the right to earn a living.

As many as 30 of the eloteros crowded the council chambers and cheered the decision to create an ordinance regulating street sales.

Council members George T. Deitch and Josefina (Josie) Macias voted against the measure.

The ordinance requires vendors to get a permit from the city after receiving approval on their carts by the Los Angeles County Health Department. The city will issue 25 permits, officials said.

The new regulation limits street sales to 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. It also prohibits selling from shopping carts, prevents the ringing of loud bells or horns by the vendors and outlaws selling in city parks.